Various manual operation buttons, such as a release button, are used in a camera. A holding member is provided inside the camera body, and the manual operation button is assembled into the holding member such that the button can be operated from one state to another by pressing on it. An opening is formed in a camera body exterior cover, hereinafter shortened to cover. The cover may be formed in one or more pieces, and the manual operation button is exposed to the outside through the opening.
Generally, when the cover is made of plastic, the holding member is integrally formed with the cover, as in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application H9-185110. FIG. 4 shows one prior art example where the holding member is integrally molded with a plastic cover 50. An opening 51 is provided in the cover 50, and a holding member 52 is integrally formed with the cover 50 in a portion of the opening 51. A shaft 53b is formed on the lower surface of a disc 53a, an aperture 52a is established on the inner surface of the holding member 52, and a shaft 53b is inserted into the aperture 52a. A nail clasp 54 is integrally molded along the rim of the disc 53a, an aperture 55 is established between the bottom surface of the cover 50 and an outer surface of the holding member 52, and the nail clasp 54 is inserted into the aperture 55. This results in the assembly of a release button 53 as a manual operation button within the holding member 52, with the release button 53 being movable up and down with an appropriate stroke.
A spring 56 is arranged between the disc 53a and the holding member 52. The release button 53 is assembled as mentioned above and is biased upward by the spring 56. The release button 53 is set so as to not separate or be dislodged due to a rim 54a of the nail clasp 54 engaging with the underside of the cover 50 at the perimeter of the opening 51. By pushing the release button 53 downward against the bias force of the spring 56, a release switch 57 on the under side of the shaft 53b is operated.
Alternatively, in the case of utilizing a cover that is made of metal, it is difficult to mold an integral holding member having such a complicated shape. Therefore, when utilizing a cover that is made of metal, a holding member that is made of plastic is mounted on the cover as a separate component, and the release button is assembled into this plastic holding member. Further, in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application H7-43810, it is proposed that a molded cover be formed having almost the same shape as a metal cover, and this molded cover is installed on the inside of the metal cover by using a double-faced tape or an adhesive bonding. This allows the holding member for the manual operation button to be integrally formed with this molded cover. Further, in order to prevent the release button from being unintentionally activated, and in order to cover a rim portion of the opening, a camera can have a decorative frame arranged around the periphery of the manual operation button.
FIG. 5 shows another prior art example where a ring-shaped member 63 is integrally molded with a holding member that is made of plastic, and this holding member is mounted to the cover. A disc-shaped bottom surface 61 has an aperture 52a that guides a release button 53. A cylinder-shaped sleeve 62 is formed along the rim of this bottom surface 61, and the ring-shaped member 63 is established on the upper end of the sleeve 62. The holding member 60 is formed of the disc-shaped bottom surface 61, the sleeve 62 and the ring-shaped member 63. The sleeve 62 is fitted into the opening 51 in the cover 50. The ring-shaped member 63 is arranged on the surface of the cover 50. A nail clasp 62a is mounted at the outer surface of the sleeve 62 so that it abuts against the internal surface of the cover 50 when the holding member 60 is mounted to the cover 50. The holding member 60 is supported by the cover 50 and is held in place by the ring-shaped member 63 above and the nail clasp 62a below. This results in an assembly of the holding member 60 so as to not separate or be dislodged from the cover 50. The other components in FIG. 5 function practically the same as similarly numbered components in FIG. 4, and thus they will not be separately discussed.
In order to make a camera""s appearance look expensive and elegant, it is preferable that, in addition to the cover being made of metal, the ring-shaped member also be made of metal. It is more preferable to use a material that has been processed by a cutting operation using a lathe, so as to form a component that is termed a xe2x80x98turnedxe2x80x99 component, in order to make a camera""s appearance look expensive and elegant. However, when using a cutting process it is difficult to create an object with a complicated shape such as, for example, the object shown in FIG. 5 wherein a ring-shaped member and a holding member are formed as an integral unit.
Further, in Japanese Laid Open Patent Application H7-43810, a holding member holds a manual operation button, and the holding member is integrally formed with a molded cover, which is adhered to the internal surface of a metal cover. An installation member, for the purpose of installing a ring-shaped member to the molded cover, is integrally formed with the molded cover. Then, a metal ring-shaped member is secured to this molded cover. The molded cover is adhered to the internal surface of the metal cover by using a double-faced tape or an adhesive bonding material. It is unavoidable that a gap between the molded cover and the metal cover can change due to the application thickness of the adhesive bonding material. Thus, the positioning accuracy for the holding member and the installation member may become less than the positioning accuracy established for the opening in the cover. Therefore, problems may occur such as the ring-shaped member becoming dislodged from the surface of the cover, or the ring-shaped member not being able to be properly installed.
The present invention relates to the structure of a manual operation button, such as a release button. The object of the invention is to provide a structure of a manual operation button wherein a decorative frame that, preferably, is made of metal can be appropriately installed within an opening in a metal cover so as to surround the manual operation button. The decorative frame has an exterior portion that will not fit within the opening and an interior portion that will fit within the opening.
In order to accomplish this, a holding member holds the manual operation button so that it can be moved along an axis, and the manual operation button is mounted within a decorative frame. According to the present invention the decorative frame and the holding member are assembled as a unit which is held in place by the cover.
A first sleeve is arranged within an opening of the cover and is integrally formed with the decorative frame. A second sleeve is fitted into the first sleeve, with the second sleeve being integrally formed with a holding member. An L-shaped flange is formed on the external peripheral surface of the second sleeve and the top surface of the flange abuts against the inside surface of the cover. The inner peripheral surface of the first sleeve faces the outer peripheral surface of the second sleeve. Engagement means, such as protrusions/indentations, etc., are formed on the peripheral surface of the first sleeve at spaced positions which engage with indentations/protrusions at corresponding spaced positions on the outer peripheral surface of the second sleeve so that the two sleeves can be fixedly attached to one another. The engagement means can be any known mechanism for attaching the two together. This results in the assembly of the decorative frame and the holding member as a unit, with a portion of the decorative frame abutting the outer surface of the cover at the rim of the opening and a portion of the holding member (i.e., the top surface of the L-shaped flange), abutting the inner surface of the cover at the rim of the opening. In this way, the decorative frame and holding member are fixedly attached to the cover. For ease of manufacture, it is preferred that the decorative frame be ring-shaped and that the manual operation button be round; however, this is not required.